A Tiny Difference
by Lara-Van
Summary: Claire's noticed something different about Peter. It's not until he shows up at Noah's apartment late at night, asking for information about an unusual power, that she figures out what's changed. Claire's perspective on Peter's blossoming romance.


**Title: **A Tiny Difference

**Author: **Lara-Van

**Warnings: ** None, beyond CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!

**A Note From Lara:** So I've been writing a lot of Pemma oneshots, and I decided it was time to have one from another character's perspective. Hence this. It's not very good, because I was watching Homecoming while writing it, and trying to fill out college applications at the same time, so I was just a BIT distracted. Oh well.

* * *

Claire had noticed the change almost immediately. There was just something different about Peter lately.

He was smiling more than she'd ever seen him do, for one thing. Claire had spent a weekend in New York over the summer, before heading down to Washington to start school, and she had seen enough of Peter to know that, despite the resolution of the Building 26 problem, there was still something wrong. He was morose and withdrawn, and she'd quickly realized that his life outside of work consisted basically of food and sleep. He had a total of one friend- herself included. Well, maybe you could count his paramedic buddy- Hesam, or whatever his name was- but it wasn't like they were saw each other outside of work. It was clear that he was still hurting over Nathan's betrayal.

She had been through a similar phase when she first discovered her ability- she'd been afraid, and she'd been angry, and she'd been bitter. But unlike her, Peter didn't have a Zach to help her through it.

But the hardened, angry Peter who was all she'd seen since that night on Kirby Plaza seemed to have faded away over the last few weeks. She'd run into him a couple of times coming and going from her father's apartment, and he'd continued to look moody and said goodbye as quickly as he could. As far as she could tell, he was avoiding people.

Which was why she was confused when he showed up at Noah's apartment at ten o'clock at night.

"Peter?" she asked, confused, when she pulled the door open. "What are you doing here so late?"

He shrugged, grinning a little self-consciously. "Actually, I came to talk to your dad. Is he here?"

Claire shook her head. "Nope. He ran out to pick up some Chinese take-out for us. I kinda showed up unannounced and it turns out he hasn't bought groceries in..." She broke off with a sigh. "Come in." She stepped aside and allowed him to enter the apartment. "I'd offer you something to eat, but like I said, Dad's not the most... domestic." She sat down on the couch and at her urging, Peter dropped tiredly into an armchair.

After a brief, awkward silence, Claire said, "So, why exactly are you here? I mean, you haven't come by just to visit in ages."

"Am I really that bad?" Peter asked, shame-faced.

"Not really. I mean, you've been... you haven't been the same for a long time. Stuff happened, and we all got messed up by it. We all need time to come to terms."

He smiled again, looking slightly less uncomfortable. "I guess," he said. "I, uh, I needed to talk to Noah about... an ability."

"Your ability?" she asked.

Peter shook his head. "No. Well, I had it for awhile, but it's... No, it's not me. A friend of mine has a really strange ability. We thought we understood it, but it's starting to look like there's another level to it. She's scared. I thought Noah might know someone who had a similar power, somebody who might be able to explain it."

Only one part of this really made it through Claire's head. "Wait a minute," she said jokingly, "you actually communicate with people _outside_ your immediate family?"

He glared at her good-naturedly. "Yes, for your information, I do," he said.

Claire leaned back in her seat, studying him intently. Then she sat forward, a small smile on her face and a determined air about her. She was going to get to the bottom of this. "So," she said, "you have a friend. A _female_ friend."

Comprehension wrote itself across Peter's face. "Claire..." he began disapprovingly, but she held up her hands to stop him.

"No no," she said, "I'm not gonna pry." Just as he was starting to look relieved, she added, "Much." He sat back with a sigh. "So come on, what's her name?"

Peter smiled despite himself, and Claire realized that over the course of the last five minutes, he had smiled more than she had ever seen him smile. "Her name's Emma," he said. "She's a file clerk at Mercy Heights."

Claire grinned. "Well that's not cliche at all. Meeting the girl of your dreams at work, I expected something a little more creative from you, Peter."

"She's not... the girl of my dreams," he protested.

"You just can't stop thinking about her."

At last he relented. "No. But, look, I really need to get going," he said. "Tell your dad to give me a call, huh?"

She nodded, and he disappeared with a tiny pop. Claire sat back, grinning. This explained the tiny differences she'd noticed in him over the last few weeks, then. He was in love. Or if he wasn't already, he was headed that way. And Claire had every intention of furthering Peter's unwilling little romance as best she could.


End file.
